This Earth Day, you’ll likely see your fair share of ‘we are the virus x’ and ‘the earth is healing’ memes. As significant as the improvements in urban air pollution and the uptick in urban rewilding they’re based around may be, the reality is that once this pesky pandemic blows over, we’ll still have an even greater curve to flatten.
One of the industries with the greatest responsibility to reduce its carbon footprint is fashion, which is widely touted among the world’s most polluting industries. While innovation and change have come quickly for young independent designers, for whom ecological conscience is a default, the same can’t necessarily be said for the larger brands with the largest amount of work to do.
That’s why announcements like Burberry’s ‘ReBurberry Edit’ are so encouraging, a welcome sign of changing tides at the industry’s upper tiers. The initiative consists of a 26-style capsule from the house’s SS20 collection, each crafted from materials at the forefront of sustainable fibre development. There are trench coats, parkas, capes and accessories created from ECONYL® — a recycled nylon made from regenerated fishing nets, fabric scraps and industrial plastic — as well as glasses made from bio-based acetate.
The capsule also coincides with the announcement of the brand’s global rollout of new sustainability labelling. With pistachio-coloured labels informing customers how a product meets a range of externally stipulated criteria, they offer insight into the codes of social and environmental responsibility at the brand’s heart.